Holiday Gift Guide

It's the time of the season to make a list and check it twice. We've assembled a holiday wish list for work and play, including tools to improve your mobile life, gaming gadgets, and tablet alternatives for those who already have, or don't want, an Apple in their stockings.

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Company: Microsoft

Price: $499

Description: "High performance" and "tablet" don't go together yet, but Microsoft knew weak hardware could tank Windows 8 before it could make a dent in the tablet market. So Microsoft built a tablet with some zing. The Surface delivers lively performance, a solid feel and some nifty features, including a combo cover/keyboard, responsive touchscreen and host of apps to make learning the new interface seem worthwhile.

Kevin Fogarty is a freelance writer covering networking, security, virtualization, cloud computing, big data and IT innovation. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, CNN.com, CIO, Computerworld, Network World and other leading IT publications. View Full Bio